Friday, May 29, 2009

TV Network's Junior Scramble Causes Big Problems

On Wednesday, NASCAR fans were checking the remote when they saw Robin Miller appearing on ESPN2 while wearing a SPEED TV t-shirt. Thursday, the TV weirdness continued on NASCAR Now as during one of the biggest stories of the season, ESPN2 had a meltdown. More on that later.

Host Nicole Manske had led a program that featured Rick Hendrick on the phone, soundbites from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a news update from Marty Smith. All of this was in reference to the changes at Hendrick Motorsports on the #88 team. Smith had strong comments from his interview with Lance McGrew, the Hendrick employee tagged to take over the team.

Manske then brought out two of ESPN's biggest guns in Ray Evernham and Dale Jarrett. Evernham was clear in reminding viewers that almost everyone knew this was coming after the most recent race. Manske actually asked Evernham what advice he gave Hendrick on this issue. It was smart of Evernham to quietly remind her things were usually the other way around.

Evernham responded to the possibility of his involvement at Hendrick as a future #88 crew chief with a big no. Times had changed, he said and the crew chief role was not one that interested him regardless of the team. Evernham left the door cracked by saying if he ever did return in another role, he would like it to be for Hendrick.

Jarrett was his diplomatic self in speaking of Earnhardt as a talented driver who simply needed to change his style and let his team fall in line with the other successful Hendrick teams. Saying Junior needed to focus, Jarrett also suggested that a non-family member challenging Junior to get the job done might do the trick.

At the end of the Jarrett segment, Manske teased the fact that the show would return with an edited piece on the rocky road this season of Earnhardt and Eury. This would be a very interesting video as the season has certainly resulted in some memorable conversations on the #88 team radio. Unfortunately, that never happened.

ESPN2 suddenly ran over five minutes of commercials and promos. Something was very wrong at NASCAR Now.

Coming out of this monster break, the correct program segment was not being shown. The salty language of Junior and Tony Jr. was nowhere to be found. Things had just moved from bad to worse.

It was quickly apparent that the segment of NASCAR Now being aired was the final one. Viewers watched Manske get final comments from Evernham and Jarrett. Then, she signed-off and walked quietly off the set. The show was over. There was only one problem.

There was still over six minutes left in the thirty minutes of NASCAR Now. Quickly, ESPN re-ran most of the previous commercial exactly as it had aired. This is the worst situation for a TV network.

The solution was a simple one. On what may prove to be one of the biggest NASCAR news days of the year, ESPN2 introduced NASCAR fans to Trey Wingo. It was time for NFL Live four minutes earlier than scheduled.

The ESPN2 automated promo graphic at the bottom of the screen told NASCAR fans that this NFL show was coming up next. No, it was on the air right now.

Luckily, this technical mess happened after the good comments from Hendrick, Smith, Evernham and Jarrett. The only thing lost was the show's big feature piece recapping this season. Manske was solid again despite her rather strange question to Evernham about giving advice to Hendrick.

For West Coast viewers, the program re-airs at 11:30PM Pacific Time and there is little doubt the problems will be fixed. Perhaps, Manske will choose to play the feature on the Friday version of NASCAR Now that airs at 6:30PM ET for those of us on the East Coast who missed it. Either way, the show had some good conversation and reporting, it just mixed with some untimely technical problems.

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34 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I don't think Manske's question about Hendrick asking Everham's advice was so crazy. What is so crazy to think that during an important decision, that Rick Hendrick might seek the input of the top professionals in his closest circle, of which Everham is one. Everham's classy response doesn't make the question a dumb one.

I think it's pretty embarrassing that the only comment they can get from Dale JR is some scratchy audio in which he really doesn't say much of anything. I wonder if Dale is going to try and avoid the press entirely between now and Dover pre-race, and I also wonder if that's such a good idea.

I had left the house for an hour and since it was a big news day, set the tape player for an hour incase the tennis ran over. I very RARELY watch NN and am still irked I missed yesterday with Robin Miller.

I could not figure out why the show SEEMED to go by so quickly...now I know why.

The technical difficulties are annoying, but I wouldn't expect anything too great in the clip that they promised. It was probably audio clipped together from the weekly race audio feature -- so you'll get stuff about Dale wanting to beat his crew with a hammer, maybe him making some jokes about how bad the car is -- but they wouldn't dare play any of the REAL audio between the juniors. In fact, if I even typed two words from one of their usual exchanges, JD would remove the comment from his family blog. I'd love to hear a REAL compilation of these two going at it. They aren't productive in diagnosing a car, but they sure are funny as they get mad at each other for not being able to do it right.

Didn't get to see the program but the Jr part might have been from an interview he did with the president of the Michigan track that was on the internet. They played the audio on Sirius and it wasn't the best sound quality.

As for the big technical snafu could it be a case of having different people because of the layoffs they had this week?

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but there is an interview with Dale,Jr. in Detroit today at autoweek.com where the replacement of Tony. Jr. is discussed. It was supposed to be just a promo for the next Michigan race.

Its on again at 1:30 central time... I've got the TIVO set and I'll let you know what happens. I was confused why there were so many commercials saved after the show on my recording... didn't even realize...

hey gang! i'm heading off to dover for the (theoretical) truck race this afternoon. weather looks iffy, at best, so i may only get to see practice and qualifying for the other 2 series and no trucks. still, it's cars on the track so it's fine!still, sure wish dover would invest in lights . . .

I'm going to say, "Conspiracy theory." Now, before everyone laughs, remember Daytona, and DW saying that California was going to be a ghost town? Then the producers cut to commercial, and the next thing you know DW is nowhere to be found, and the subject was never broached again. Fast forward to yesterday, and keep in mind we are dealing with Rick Hendrick, one of the most powerful men in NASCAR, let alone in the garage, and I would say it's damage control, if not media control.

Thing thing with Daytona and DW was that the wrong clip played from LA. That segment where DW was talking was NEVER apart of the original show. DW was talking during a downtime when the crew was fixing the lighting - thus the guys moving ladders around. Somehow LA thought it was part of the show and rolled it but they realized their mistake and rolled a commercial.

When you work at a level of broadcasting as high as ESPN people expect you to be god-like and never make mistakes. That's why it's such a shock when the wheels come off. But crap happens. I'm sure the people behind the scenes were mortified and will dissect what happened. I work in a pretty high level of broadcasting and while I do all I can not to make mistakes, I'm a human being and sometimes things just go terribly wrong. It's like a knife to the gut when it does. You gotta take a deep breath, forgive yourself and keep pushin on despite the knowledge there are people jealous of you and the level you've attained and are now having a great laugh---or writing a column about you---at your expense. LOL It just kinda goes with the territory.

Fast forward to yesterday, and keep in mind we are dealing with Rick Hendrick, one of the most powerful men in NASCAR, let alone in the garage, and I would say it's damage control, if not media control.

No, it was just a technical screw-up.

Just like the DW incident, which was an off-camera bit that was not supposed to air at all.

LOOK AT THIS FROM USA TODAY!!NASCAR Ratings Gopher a Plunge on Fox USAToday

Ratings are down for NASCAR races but Fox Sports chairman David Hill refuses to believe the drop has anything to do with Digger, the animated gopher who appears during race broadcasts on the network, USA Today reports. A NASCAR official blamed Digger, but Hill called that idea “the biggest crock of [stuff] I’ve ever heard.” Hill tells the paper NASCAR is going through a ratings correction with several causes but could shore up viewership with a consistent start time for its races.

I always thought FOX and HIll were delusional

this proves it. he blames NASCAR start times instead of his own, self indulgent piece of animation crap

Hill is gonna kill this sport, not the COT. How can you have a consistent start time when you have day races and night races 3 hours apart on two coasts? This has to be somewhat dictated by the spectators, NOT the tv audience. It's obviously more than the gopher, but that isn't the solution.

to be honest, I was doing other things and didn't even realize the ESPN mistake (sort of half listening.) I'm leaning on the side of a bad mistake, not a conspiracy. We've already heard colorful exchanges.

While Digger is silly and has nothing to do with racing, for the unnamed person in Nascar to say the falling ratings are the fault of Digger is stupid.

I have to disagree with those who say a consistent start time is impossible. While you have to dismiss the night races because those are what they are, there's absolutely no reason why races can't start at 1pm or 2pm Eastern. The NFL seems not to have a problem with ratings on the West Coast when the Raiders, Cardinals or 49ers play games in the East, and the West Coasters have to put their TV on at 10am. So, if people in the Western time zone are true Nascar fans, they should have no problem turning on their TV at 10am or 11am.

I think Dale Jr. is the most overrated sports figure. The man has never even contended for a championship, and once again he didnt even make the chase. He is covered solely on the basis of who his father is.